SAS ‘lost one of its finest’: Soldier dies in parachute training

An experienced Australian special forces soldier has died after a midair collision during a high-altitude parachuting descent while helping instruct an army training exercise.

The soldier has been identified as Warrant Officer Class 2 Lachlan Muddle, a 50-year-old SAS sniper, who was involved in instructing the course.

He joined the army in 1994 and the special operations command in 2007, spending most of his time in the SAS.

“He was operationally experienced. He was a highly qualified special forces sniper and military freefall parachutist,” Australian Army Special Operations Commander Major General Garth Gould said on Tuesday.

“He was highly regarded within our community. He was skilled, professional, and he’ll be remembered for his sense of humour and his genuine and deep commitment to serving the nation,” Gould said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the force had “lost one of its finest”.

“The Defence force trains as it fights, and so there is necessarily risk in Defence force training,” he said.

“Lachlan Muddle’s sacrifice is as meaningful and significant as any of those on the battlefield.”

The House of Representatives observed a moment’s silence on Tuesday afternoon to honour Muddle. He was deployed on five occasions across his military career, including to Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “we grieve with the family and friends” mourning Muddle’s death.

“This tragic accident is a stark reminder that there are no easy days for those who defend our nation,” he said in a statement.

A second soldier, a sergeant from the ADF’s parachute school, was injured but did not require hospitalisation in the incident at the Jervis Bay Airfield about 5.40pm on Monday.

The Department of Defence confirmed the incident on Tuesday morning.

“The death of one of our soldiers is a tragedy and deeply felt by the Army family and across the broader Defence community,” the department said in a statement.

Gould said the two soldiers had opened their parachutes and were manoeuvring to the drop zone when they collided and fell to the ground.

“This was a midair collision between two experienced paratroopers,” Gould said.

The training exercise involved a high-altitude parachuting descent.

“It was early in the evening, with low-light conditions. The people involved in the training were using night-vision goggles,” Gould said.

The collision occurred a few hundred feet above the ground, in the fourth week of a six-week block of advanced military freefall training.

All parachute operations have been paused following the incident.

Marles said he remained confident in the ADF’s activities, “specifically in relation to parachuting”, while investigations into another soldier’s death in 2024 continue.

Former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon’s son, Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, 33, died in a parachute training incident at RAAF Base Richmond in Sydney’s north-west in March 2024.

It sparked multiple investigations and a two-month halt on all parachute training.

A NSW coronial inquest is ongoing but has not yet scheduled dates for a hearing.

The ABC reported in May 2024 six soldiers serving at the Richmond RAAF base, including five members of a unit that packs parachutes for military exercises, were facing expulsion after failing drug screening tests in the days before Fitzgibbon’s death.

But Defence insisted to the ABC “all personnel who were involved in packing and checking Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon’s parachute tested negative for prohibited substances”.

Monday’s incident is the latest Defence training death after a soldier was killed in an exercise near Townsville in October when an armoured personnel carrier rolled.

with AAP

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